My father started to bring my younger brother and I to various motorsports events when I was at the impressionable age of 12. As I got older and earned a few bucks working part-time, I eventually saved enough to get my first 35mm film camera, a Pentax K1000, so that I could take photos at any race track we visited.
Fortunately for me I also had an Uncle that was an award-winning photographer and he had his own darkroom. My first roll of black and white film that I developed and printed (with his assistance) was from an international motorsports event.
I have been a freelance photographer for the Toronto Star’s Wheels section and my action photos have been published in the two main Canadian motorsports magazines, as well as Outdoor Photography Canada.
Somewhere along the way, the very same brother that shared my enthusiasm for motorsports, developed an interest in hot air ballooning. He crewed for a local balloonist for the better part of one summer. At the end of the summer he surprised me with an opportunity to join him and his wife for a flight! There is a saying in the world of ballooning that states “The first flight is the cheapest” and this was exactly what happened to us! The next summer found the Larsen brothers operating Freestyle Flights, taking passengers for flights in and around the Orangeville, Ontario area. My brother, Allan (call sign “Kilopapa”), became the licensed pilot while I managed the chase team and business side of things. While partnering in Freestyle Flights I crewed for more than 100 flights.
I would eventually live in the Ottawa area and spent a few summers covering ballooning events in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick. The opportunity to provide both articles and quality photos was of interest to a US publication, Balloon Life magazine, resulting in numerous published works.
I continue to have an interest in these two sports (as well as others) and enjoy every opportunity to get out and take photos whenever and wherever I can!
Feel free to contact me: jlarsen@photograffics.com
